


There's No Present Like The Time

by hischarmingcompanion



Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Clawen prologue, F/M, I hope I can keep up with this multichapter this time, because we've all pretty much established that their kid's name is charlie, charlie - Freeform, prologue is present time, then an 18 year time jump, then it's about their kid basically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-10 00:45:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4370786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hischarmingcompanion/pseuds/hischarmingcompanion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Claire and Owen spend the night together and Claire panics. She's not used to being with someone like Owen and it scares her. So she runs. But something inside her might make her adapt to the pressure of giving someone your whole heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This prologue literally took me a month to write. It should not have taken me that long but anyway I finally wrote it so yay! I hope you enjoy it!

It was dark when they finally walked into their hotel room. The traffic was atrocious and they’d gone to four other hotels before finally finding one with a vacant room. They probably would have found one sooner if they left the island sooner, but both had agreed that it would be better to stay and make sure everyone had made it off the island safely. And now here they were, exhausted and covered in filth.

All Claire wanted right now was to wash off the entire day. She could still smell the shit covering her and the faint scent of gasoline on Owen from across the room. She wanted it gone. As she turned around, she nearly jumped. Owen stood directly behind her. Had he been there the whole time?

His gaze was piercing, but she could see the worry behind his eyes. She felt so small next to him and it made her feel safe. Their noses were just barely touching and she could feel his hot breath on her lips. “You okay?” he whispered softly. His hand wrapped around hers and his thumb lightly circled her palm. Her breathing became unsteady as she nodded. All she had to do was lean forward slightly and the gap between them would close, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Quickly calming her breathing, she stepped back. “I should take a shower.” Not letting herself wait for a reply, she wandered into the bathroom and shut the door. Maybe a cold shower would be best.

She ended up staying in the shower for 20 minutes, nearly falling asleep against the cold shower wall. She also spent the entire time thinking about Owen. About what they were exactly. Their small conversation in the hangar had been vague, to say the least, and Claire didn’t what it meant to her. Did she even want to be with Owen? Of course, she did. She’s never wanted to be with anyone more in her life. Never felt the need to depend on someone that much. And that terrified her.

Exiting the shower, she wrapped the soft robe that had been hanging on the door around her bruised and tired body. She didn’t open the door all the way. First, she opened it enough to peek out into the hotel room. No Owen. Confused, her eyes landed on the bed. She walked over to it to find a small note sitting on top of the comforter.

_Claire,_

_Went out to find some fresh clothes. Be back in about an hour._

_-Owen_

Now Claire felt bad. She had taken so long in the shower, he must’ve given up on having one and gone out looking like he’d been through war. Well, hadn’t he? She let the thought go when she felt the dull ache of exhaustion spread throughout her body. Collapsing onto the bed, she didn’t even bother pulling the covers over her body as the sleep consumed her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She hadn’t been asleep for that long when she heard the shower running. Owen was back. She looked over to her side and saw a few bags sitting on the chair, presumably filled with clothes. She sighed and closed her eyes, hearing the shower shut off. She was too tired to have any sort of discussion right now. She opened up her eyes slightly, not enough for him to notice, when the door opened and light flooded into the room.

_Holy crap._

She’d never seen him shirtless before. She’d only ever been able to imagine what was under those clothes. And she wasn’t disappointed. She had to shut her eyes before a blush could rise in her cheeks. She heard a few bags rustle around before feeling the bed dip beside her. She could feel his eyes on her again. It was hard not to. He probably knew she was awake. Opening one eye, she stared back at him. “Hi.” She hated how small her voice sounded when she was around him. But it was involuntary.

“Hi.” She could see the small smile gracing his face in the darkness and it made her feel warm. “How’re you doing?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” Which was true. She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know until she got a good night’s sleep. She wouldn’t let her mind go to that place. So she focused on what was in front of her. She let her hand between them, letting her fingers fall against his. His other hand came up to brush against her cheek. It was lightest touch and yet it sent a shock up her spine. She suddenly couldn’t breathe and she didn’t mind.

He kept getting closer and they were as close as they were before. Her brain kept yelling at her to stop, but it shut up when his lips finally touched hers. She needed to feel alive. He needed to feel alive. So they spent the rest of the night feeling alive together. Later, they fell asleep in each other’s arms in a haze of pleasurable bliss.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_She could hear the dull sound of heels against the concrete pavement. The heat of the red-hot flare in her hands. She could hear the screams. Teeth. They needed more teeth. We need more teeth._

_Teeth._

Claire awoke with a small gasp leaving her lips. She could feel strong arms wrapped around her and she suddenly became hyper aware of her surroundings. Of what happened early that night and she suddenly couldn’t breathe. She shouldn’t have let that happen. Everything was happening too fast. She took a deep breath and slid from his embrace, hoping not to wake him. She suddenly missed him and had the urge to crawl back toward him, but she dismissed the thought. She had to think rationally. And she couldn’t do that with a naked Owen lying next to her. She couldn’t stay here. The clock read 4 AM and she sighed. Walking over to the chair by the window, she quietly fished out some clothing, a hoodie and some sweatpants, and quickly changed into them. She was shaking when she turned and saw Owen. He looked so peaceful, she almost thought about staying.

“No,” she whispered to herself. Grabbing her wallet, she allowed herself one more look at Owen before opening the door and walking out. So much had happened in the last 24 hours and she needed the familiar. She wasn’t ready for her life to change so drastically. But life had already changed. She just didn’t know it yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like that went well, but I am always looking for feedback! Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought so I can have a stronger presence with my writing in the future. Especially with future chapters! Stay tuned for Chapter 1! -Emma  
> Tumblr: theelderwanda


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finished this chapter yesterday and I was going to wait a few days to post it but I got too excited so here it is! Enjoy!

_3…_

_2…_

_1.._

A loud ringing filled the hallways of San Diego High School, as well as the cries of joy of its many students. By evidence of the papers scattered around the hallway, many of them assumed that summer meant that they could throw all their notes away. But Charlotte Dearing knew better. Stuffing the notes in her bag, she wandered into the hot air of June.

“Charlie!” Someone called from within the crowd of students. She smiled and ran over to the voice.

“Harriet! Can you believe it?” She collided with her in a hug. “We’re seniors!” She exclaimed, shaking her best friend’s shoulders.

Harriet shrugged as they started walking toward the parking lot. “Well, technically, we’re not seniors yet. Not until August.”

“Forget about the specifics, Harriet. The point is we’re going to be the top dogs next year and we get the whole summer without that feeling of dread in our stomachs. Aren’t you excited?” She asked, tossing her bag into the passenger seat of her friend’s car.

“Not as excited as you, apparently. What’s got you all hopped up? Is it the possible job opportunity?” She asked, starting the car.

A smirk appeared on Charlie’s face. “Maybe, it’s the fact that it’s not a possibility anymore.”

Harriet’s eyes widen. “You got the job? You actually got the job?”

“I actually got the job! You’re looking at the new Tiger Habitat Trainer Trainee!” She shoted enthusiastically.

“I can’t believe you actually got the job. Don’t they know you’ve been fired from 3 other zoos in the past 2 years?”

“Oh, who cares. So I got too comfortable with the dangerous animals? So what?” said Charlie, shrugging her shoulders.

“”So what? Charlie, you have to stop jumping into enclosures and start listening to rules.” she warned.

“Please, we both know that’s never going to happen.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

People would always ask Claire why she took a job as an event coordinator at The San Diego Fundraising Company. No one really understood, seeing as she was entirely overqualified for the job. But she would never tell anyone why. She would just say that she enjoyed helping people. And that was true. But that wasn’t the entirety of it.

The last 18 years had been full of good days for Claire. Today was not one of them. Usually, people would call a month ahead to set up an event date and any specifics Claire would need to start getting the ball rolling. But these people were having an event a week away.

A week.

It took all of her willpower to not ask if they were joking. They’d explained that it was a last minute decision and they wanted to line it up with the opening of a new exhibit. And as a result, Claire had been working tirelessly all day. Making hundreds of phone calls and skipping her lunch break all together. By the end of the day, she felt relief wash over her when she walked through her front door.

“Guess who’s off school for three months!” Claire turned toward the shouting and saw Charlie appear at the top of the stairs. Raising Charlie had been tough. She occasionally had some help from Karen and her nephews, but otherwise, it was just the two of them. When she was born, she had thought about calling Owen many times, but she never did. Part of her was still scared. She still regrets not telling him. She has a lot of regrets. But Charlie wasn’t one of them.

“How’d the last day go, Sweetie?” She asked, giving her a kiss on the forehead when she ran down the steps.

“Eh, it was pretty normal. It only got great when the bell rang, if you can believe it.” She smirked.

Claire laughed. “Well, as a congrats for getting through junior year, how about we go down to the bookstore and you can pick out a book?”

Charlie smiled, but Claire knew her well enough to know what she was thinking. “Three books?”

Claire scoffed. “Two.”

Charlie’s nose crinkled up, but she nodded. “Deal.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bart’s Bookstore wasn’t that far from the house, so they usually walked. It was a small shop on the corner of a quiet street and most of it was outdoors. As usual, once they got there, Charlie disappeared into the rows of books. Claire usually didn’t see her for another 20 minutes. So she used that time to find something for herself. She found herself wandering around the animal section when she noticed a man at the end of the row pulling a book off the shelf.

“Shit,” she whispered before turning around and swiftly walking away. But she wasn’t quick enough.

“Claire?” She froze, mentally cursing herself. She had to turn around. She’d look weird if she didn’t. Pivoting on her heel, she slowly turned to meet those eyes. Those eyes. She hadn’t forgotten what they looked like.

“Owen,” she managed. There’s that small voice again. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he said, walking up to meet her. “How’ve you been? How long has it been?”

“18 years.” She said with ease.

“Wow. Have you been counting?” He smirked. Damn that smirk. She found her smiling back.

“No. I’ve been good, though. Not much has been happening. Not much at all.” She said nervously, remembering that he had a daughter that was within 50 feet of them. She didn’t want to do this here.

“Well, we should definitely catch up sometime. I mean, I want to right now, but I can’t. I have to prepare for training tomorrow. Well, not my training, other people’s training. I train other people.” The words seemed to keep falling out of his mouth unwillingly. He sighed before smiling at her. “Here,” he said, before reaching into his pocket and producing his card.

“Thanks.” She took the business card from him and he turned to walk away.

Before rounding the corner, he turned back toward her. “It was good to see you, Claire.” And then, he was gone. She let out a shaky breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. And not five minutes later, Charlie rounded the corner, books in hand.

“Okay, so I know you said two books, but I’ve also been DYING to read this one, too.” Shaking herself back to reality, Claire turned back to mom mode.

“Then, why don’t you get a job and buy it?” She smirked. Charlie groaned and reluctantly placed the book on the shelf. “C’mon, kiddo. Home.” Claire threw her arm around her daughter as they went to the counter to pay. Claire would leave Owen until later but for now, she slipped the card into the bag of books and she and Charlie walked home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Charlie found the new employee email one her computer when she got home. She was thrilled. She felt like this was the job she wasn’t going to get fired from. This is the one she was going to keep. She’d never tell her mother about it, though. Her mother was not a big fan of zoos. She understood that. She had told Charlie about Jurassic World when she was 12. She would have been terrified after that, too. But the way that Claire had reacted when she told her about her first job at a small zoo in the area, she decided not to tell her about the other two. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her about this one.

Opening her email, she skimmed the pages for the specifics. What to wear, who to see, where to go. She was to report to Owen Grady at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning. She was so excited, she probably wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight. But she had to. Harriet would be picking her up at 7:30. She had a feeling tomorrow was going to go great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 1! Chapter 2 will be Charlie's first day at the zoo! Let me know what you guys thought!


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so long but my muse has seemingly disappeared for the past two weeks. Anyway, here it is! Enjoy!

Management had prepared to take the new trainees on a tour of the zoo before letting them go to their respective habitats their bosses. Charlie didn’t necessarily need a tour since she knew the place pretty well already. She would come here on here every once in a while after school and she didn’t have to pay because she had a friend who would let her in through the back door.

“You will clock in and out on time, otherwise you are wasting company time.” Charlie wasn’t paying much attention since she’d pretty much heard the same rules many times before. She was just eager to start training. And that’s when they approached the tiger habitat. Charlie’s heart sped up. This is where she would be spending most of her summer.

“This is the Tiger Habitat. The two of you that are training here, Janson and Dearing, you can stay and get started.” He looked over his shoulder toward the enclosure. “Hey, Grady!” Charlie saw a man, maybe in his 40s, climb over the fence and approach the group. The old man turned back to them. “This is your boss, Owen Grady. He may be nuts, but he knows what he’s doing so listen to him.”

Owen laughed and pat him on the shoulder. “Thanks, that warms my heart.” The man rolled his eyes and beckoned for the others to follow him, except for Charlie and the other kid, a boy named Antony. “Hi, I’m Owen. You can call me Owen. Don’t call me Mr. Grady. I do not like that.” He smiled. “Tell me about yourselves. If the tigers are going to trust, I’ve gotta trust you.”

Antony spoke up first. “Um, I’m Tony. I’m 19 and I applied for this job because I’m also training to be a vet.” Understandable. A lot of vets had jobs taking care of animals before becoming actual vets.

“Great. What about you?” He turned to Charlie.

“Charlotte. But you can call me Charlie. I’m 17 and this is the fourth zoo I’ve worked at.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Fourth? What’d you do?”

“No idea,” she lied, shrugging.

“Alright, then. Vet.” He pointed at Tony. “And Four Zoos.” He pointed at Charlie. “Follow me.” He said, walking toward the tigers.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“This is the feeding booth. It’s where we sort all the meat and feed the tigers. We attach the meat to the end of this pole and position it outside this hole. That is only way we feed them. Under no circumstances, do we take the meat into the enclosure to feed them. That’s way too dangerous.” They both nodded in understanding. “Good. Why don’t you guys hook up some meat and I’ll be right back to show you how to feed them.” Owen walked down the hallway and disappeared around the corner. Tony immediately went to work, but Charlie went to look out the window. Just outside the door was a baby tiger, no more than a year old, rolling around on the grass. Charlie smiled and placed her hand on the door handle.

“What are you doing?” asked Tony.

“C’mon, don’t you want to touch a baby tiger. How cool would that be to put on your fancy vet resume?” She teased.

“Are you insane? Owen said not to go out there.” He warned.

“He said not to go out there with meat,” she corrected. “Does it look like I’m holding any meat?”

“Hello! You are the meat!”

“Man up. I’ll be fine.” She said, turning the door handle and stepping outside, shutting the door behind her. The tiny tiger was still rolling around on the ground below her. “Hey there, cutie.” She knelt down to his level and ran a hand over his head. She giggled. The small animal wrapped his paws around her arm and playfully nuzzled into her hand. It felt amazing. This, of course, is why Charlie was always fired from her job. Normally, employees weren't supposed to go into the enclosure and pet the animals. It was dangerous. But Charlie couldn't help herself. She just loved animals. Especially the dangerous ones. Charlie was still happily playing with the baby when a growl sounded from somewhere in the enclosure. Now, Charlie did loved dangerous animals, but that didn't mean she was stupid enough to stay in there.

Standing up, she slowly backed away from the cub and placed her hand on the door handle, opening it and swiftly shutting it. She felt herself beginning to laugh as she turned around, but it soon stopped when she saw Owen, hands on his hips and a stern expression on his face. Crap.

“So, this is why you can't keep a job?” Owen asked.

She sighed. “Owen, I’m so sorry. I jus-”

He cut her off. “Do you know that what you just did was incredibly dangerous? Not to mention stupid?”

“I know and I’m sorry. I just love animals. It’s not everyday you get to pet a tiger and you never know if a chance like that is going to come again and it was an impulse and I’m sorry.” He looked angry. She closed her eyes, anticipating the worst. “Please, don’t fire me.”

She heard him out a frustrated sigh. “Charlie, I’m not going to fire you.”

She looked up in shock. “You’re not?”

He smiled. “No. Funnily enough, you remind me of how dangerous and stupid I was. Actually, I still kind of am.” She giggled and let out a sigh of relief. “That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook, though. If you do anything like that again, you’re out of here.”

She nodded hastily. “Absolutely. It won’t happen again. Promise.”

He smiled, seemingly satisfied. “Okay, let’s feed some tigers.”

Owen didn’t know what it was, but there was something odd about this kid. Maybe it was the way she joyfully hooked meat slabs onto a stick. Or maybe it was the fact that she willingly walked into a tiger enclosure without a drop of fear. There was just something about her. As their boss, he wasn’t technically allowed to pick favourites, but without a doubt, he’d probably pick Charlie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This felt like kind of felt like a filler chapter, but I don't know. I'll let you guys decide. Let me know what you thought! -Emma
> 
> Tumblr: theelderwanda


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've done it! I've finally finished Chapter 3!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy! ANNNNNDDDDD I wrote it during Math hehe I was really bored so I thought why not write? Anyway, I actually had a lot of fun writing this one, or at least the end of it, so yay! Hope you guys like it! XD -Emma

“Wait, you’re saying you went inside the tiger pen and you didn’t get fired?”

Charlie and Harriet were sitting in Charlie’s room, having not really seen each other that much since she got her job at the zoo. It had been a couple of weeks and since Owen had given her a second chance, she wasn’t wasting it. No one had given her a second chance with her previous jobs and she was extremely grateful.

“Yeah. I mean, he told me not to do it again, but he said as long as I followed the rules from now on, I can stay,” she explained.

“Interesting. Maybe he’s got a soft spot for you.”

“Gross. No way, Harriet. He’s old enough to be my dad.”

“You wish. He’d be the coolest dad in the history of dads. He’d even be cooler than my dad.” Charlie raised an eyebrow at her. “What? You know it’s true. The guy sells paper for a living. I love him, but tiger tamer beats that any day.”

Charlie laughed and a knock was heard from her bedroom door. Poking her head inside, her mom smiled. "Hey girls. Harriet, are you staying tonight?"

"No, my mom wants me back home. I can stay for dinner, though." Claire nodded.

"Sounds great. And Charlie, do you need a ride to work tomorrow?"

Charlie's eyes suddenly went wide. She looked frantically between her mother and her best friend. "Uh, no, I'm good, mom. Harriet's going to drive me." Harriet threw her hands in the air and flopped down on the bed. "Yeah, she's going that way, so she said she'd drop me off."

"Alright, give me a call around lunch. Maybe we can meet up?" She asked.

"I don't think I can. I've only got a half hour tomorrow."

"Okay, well then make sure you get some sleep, please. I don't want you passing out in the middle of work." Charlie nodded. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, you two."

"Goodnight, mom."

Harriet spoke up as soon as Claire shut the door. "You need to either get your license or ride a bike to work or something because I'm not going to be driving you forever, Miss Daisy." She said sarcastically, playfully curtsying. "And since when does she know you have a job?"

Charlie groaned. "She kept bugging me about a summer job and it just slipped out. She thinks I work at the department store on Smith St."

Harriet narrowed her eyes. "There is no department store on a Smith St."

"Exactly," she said, a smirk shining through her features.

Harriet gasped, smiling. "Charlotte Dearing, you sly minx!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Charlie was filling the pit today. It was getting hotter, as it does in California, and the tiger's needed a place to cool off. So Owen tasked her with the important job of filling the pit up with water. And she was determined to do a good job, just like in everything she'd done so far at the zoo.

"Make sure to cover everything. We don't want the water to soak down and disappear after two weeks." Owen shouted up to Charlie, who was holding the big, industrial-sized hose. She began to walk the outer perimeter of the enclosure, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice.

"Owen!" A voice called. The second she saw the flash of red hair, Charlie ducked down behind a cluster of bushes.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath, as she watched her mother approach Owen.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Look who it is. Did you come here just to see me?" He teased.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm setting up an event in a couple of days. Just thought I'd stop by and say hello," she smiled.

"Well I was just talking to my new trainee..." He trailed off, turning around and finding Charlie gone. "...who has mysteriously disappeared. Never mind, then." He turned back to Claire, giving her that smirk. "So you're the one who's doing the gator event, huh?"

"Stressfully, yes. I've never planned something in under a week before, but it's certainly a challenge."

"So you're going to be at this event?" He asked, stepping slightly closer to her.

She smiled. "Of course."

"Well, you know, I'll be there, too." Claire blushed and shook her head. "Maybe, I'll see you there."

"Maybe," she hinted before turning and walking away. Owen shook his head slightly before turning back to the tiger enclosure.

His eyebrows narrowed as his eyes wandered the area. "Charlie?" He called out.

A small, hushed voice suddenly reached his ears. "Shh! She could hear you!" He hopped over the fence and crawled into the bushes to find Charlie huddled there.

"Charlie, what are you doing in here?"

She shrugged. "Nothing much. Why? What're you doing here?" She asked casually.

He rolled his eyes. "Why are you hiding?"

"Did she ask about me?"

"Claire? No, she's planning an event here. Why would she ask about you?" Owen asked, becoming suspicious.

"Shit," she cursed. “She’s going to be at that thing? I’m working that party!”

"Charlie, what is going on?"

"She's my mom," she confessed. Owen's eyes suddenly went wide.

"Claire? Claire Dearing is your mother? The woman I just spoke to?" She nodded. "Are you sure?"

Charlie turned to him. "Am I sure the woman that was standing three feet from me was my mother?" She retorted sarcastically.

"Okay, so that was your mother," he told himself, still trying wrap his head around it. "Why are you hiding, then? Does she not know you work here?"

"Not exactly. And if she found out she’d go nuts. She’d kill me, then ground me. And then, she’d kill me again.”

Owen was still stuck on _she’s my mom_ , but he didn’t want to look as baffled as he was. “Charlie, you said you were 17?”

“Yeah, I know, and my mom still has the power to ground me. Sucks, right?” Charlie stood up from the bushes and took the hose back. “Are people allowed to wear masks at this fundraiser?” she joked. Owen stood still, staring at her. “What?”

“If you’ll excuse me, I have a very important phone call to make.” he said, making quick work of hopping over the fence and jogging down the pathway. He had his suspicions and they were usually right. Only one thing was crossing his mind: He need to talk to Claire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TADA! What'd you think? Woah, Owen totally knows something's up! And come on, I think we all know what Owen knows. Anyway, I should start working on Chapter 4 within the week so it'll be up maybe next week. But I'm horrible with deadlines so I don't know lol But I'm actually really excited to write the next chapter because it's full drama and all of that fun stuff! SO let me know what you thought of this chapter cause I love to hear from you guys!!! Love you! XD


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada! Finally, right?! Sorry this took so long! College has been kicking my ass. I was going to finish this after my monologue reading on Wednesday because that had been stressing me out, but then my teacher moved it to this Monday so YAY! Anyway enjoy!

Claire didn't know why, but something had been off with Charlie since she'd come home. She was fidgety and it was making Claire uneasy herself. Turning away from the dirty dishes, she put her focus on her daughter. "Charlie, are you alright?"

"Fine, mom," she replied, suspiciously eyeing her mother. Claire was about to press her further when her began to buzz with a call. She smiled as the name Owen flashed across the screen.

"We'll talk about this later," she said, drying her hands and picking up her phone. "Owen, hi." The second the words left her mouth, her daughter bolted from her seat, making Claire jump, and ran upstairs. What the hell? "Uh, what's up?" She asked, shaking her head.

"Could you maybe meet me at my place in, say, an hour? There's something I really have to talk to you about." He sounded just as antsy as Charlie before she practically turned into The Flash.

"Uh, yeah, no problem. Why? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just... See you in an hour," he replied before hanging up. She curiously looked at the end call screen on her phone and rubbed her forehead.

"Maybe there's something in the water..." She trailed off before walking upstairs to Charlie's room. Knocking on the door softly, Claire opened the door and saw her sitting on the floor, at the foot of her bed, looking up at her nervously. "Hey, kiddo. Want to tell me what's going on with you? Cause you're kind of freaking me out."

Charlie sighed before saying, "You know, don't you?"

Claire narrowed her eyes, staring down at her daughter. "Know what?"

"That I work at the zoo!" Claire's eyes widened, confusion quickly turning into anger.

"You work at the zoo?!" She shouted. Charlie’s eyebrows suddenly quirked up.

“I’m going to hazard a guess here and say you didn’t know that.” She shifted her gaze, trying to avoid her mother’s fiery eyes. “Damn.”

“Charlie, why did you keep this from me? You know how I feel about places like that."

Charlie was getting angry now. It was her life and she loved zoos. Her mother couldn't make her feel bad about this. She wouldn't let her. "Why do you hate it so much? Is it because of Jurassic World? Is it because of my dad? Because you walked out on him. I didn't even get a choice!"

"Charlie," she warned, trying push that scared feeling out of her mind. Charlie had already met her dad. She just didn't know it. "I didn't even know about you when I left. And this isn't about him. This is about you."

"No, mom, it's about you!" She shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Claire. "Just because you made a crap ton of mistakes once doesn't mean I'm going to do the same thing! I'm not you!"

Claire stepped back in shock. Whatever that was, it had been building up inside of her for a long time. Not even Charlie had known it was in her. She had realised what she'd said as she said it. She didn't mean it. Her mother had always been silent when it came to Jurassic World, but Charlie could tell she still felt guilty.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

Claire shook her head, backing out of the room. "I have to go meet someone," she said, her voice small. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." She left for her room, leaving Charlie alone, staring at the empty space her mother had been standing in.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Charlie had struck a cord. She hadn't meant to, but she did. And she felt awful.

Peeking her head into her mother's room,she saw her lying on her bed, facing the door. Charlie walked into the room, laying down next to her. They were silent for a couple of minutes, eyes meeting every once in awhile. Both were too stubborn to open their mouths until Charlie finally broke the silence.

"Mom, I really am sorry. That was a really horrible thing to say and I didn't mean it."

Claire sighed and hugged Charlie close to her. "It's okay. I shouldn't have been that upset with you. I overreacted. I just wish you would've told me, that's all," she explained.

"I know. I was just afraid you were going to make me quit," Charlie admitted, nervously playing with her fingers.

Claire looked at her daughter, confused. "Honey, why on earth would I make you quit?"

"I don't know. Just my adolescent mind worrying on overdrive, I guess." Claire laughed, brushing her fingers through her daughter's hair. Charlie looked up suddenly. "Wait, so does that mean I can keep working there?"

Claire's mind wandered to her phone call with Owen. With the information that had suddenly come to light, she had a feeling she knew what he wanted to talk about. "Probably, yeah. But there's something I have to take care of first."

"What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously. "Mom, you better not be going to talk to my boss about safety issues. I swear, I'm fine."

"No, that's not quite it," she replied, getting out of bed and slipping her shoes on. "There's just something I need to do."

"Alright. I'm probably just going to go to bed. Long day."

"Okay, well, I'll be back." Moving around the bed, she kissed Charlie on the cheek. "Bye, Sweetie."

Charlie waved as her mother left the room and then quickly dived for her phone, dialling a number. "Harriet? You need to pick me up right now."

"What? Why?"

"No time for that. I'll let you know when you get here. Just bring that spy kit you got when you were a kid. It's going to be an interesting night."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's going to be a while before I post the next chapter because next weekend IM GOING TO NEW YORK for a wedding! Well rural New York not the city but still PLANES!!! But I'll try and work on it to post next week! Love ya!!!


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